Driving Continuous Improvement at Scania

At just 24 years, with a passion for continuous improvement, Kristian Gewriye joined Scania as part of a project the company was giving an opportunity for students to implement. For Kristian this was a perfect match for him to put into practice what he had learned in class during his Master’s degree program in industrial and management engineering, and also in fulfilling his childhood dream of working in the automotive industry.?

Recently as part of his trainee program, Kristian took part in a two month apprenticeship in Nairobi, Kenya at Scania East Africa (SEAL) to gain experience on the operations of the company out in the market. During the two months Kristian got to visit and engage with different customers and departments in further understanding the day-to-day operations of the company in the region, the different customer types, and the transport solutions offered to them.?

Since you were young, you have had an interest in huge factories, and in the manufacture of vehicles. How did you become part of the Scania family?

I actually joined the Scania family in the spring of 2020 where as part of my master’s thesis I got the opportunity of implementing a project at the Scania cab factory in Oskarshamn which is a city on the south eastern part of Sweden where we manufacture the cabs which are supplied to the entire European market. However, I officially began my trainee program and started working for Scania at the head office in S?dert?lje, Sweden in August 2020 in the production and logistics department.

?What has your journey at Scania been like so far?

It has been amazing so far! In the last one year I have had the opportunity of working in different departments within the company which has given me a glimpse and experience into how the whole business comes together. I started off at the foundry in S?dert?lje where we cast the engines and cylinder heads which go into our vehicles. After that I worked in a department called cross-brand collaboration where I worked with a project together with our sister brand MAN. The project involved discussions regarding IP rights for our common powertrain and this was an interesting and very valuable experience for me because I got insight into the kind of synergies we have within the TRATON Group, and how we work with the different brands.

Other than that I have also worked at the Research and Development department learning about modularization, and at our new battery factory where I was involved in setting up the new logistics solution in the factory. All in all my experience at Scania has been great so far because I have been part of different projects covering different areas, and this has given me a chance to meet and learn from interesting, inspiring and highly competent people in the organization.?

How was your experience in Kenya?

Kenya has been wonderful, and I actually choose to come to Nairobi specifically. Ever since I joined the trainee program and I received information that I would have the opportunity of going abroad to work in one of our markets, Nairobi was always on my list because I had heard such great things about the place and about SEAL, and I saw that this would be a great learning experience for me.

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What were your expectations coming to SEAL?

My expectations before coming to Kenya was to learn about how a business unit operates, the interaction with customers, how the needs and wants of customers are fulfilled, the challenges the markets face and how we can improve. I also wanted to learn and understand what differences are there in the way the organization operates in Sweden and Kenya, how the employees perceive their employer, and how we incorporate our core values in the day-to-day operations.?

What did you enjoy the most?

I enjoyed meeting with customers to see how they run their operations, to understand why they opted to purchase Scania vehicles and not other brands, to hear how satisfied they are with our solutions, and what areas we can improve on. Understanding this and connecting the dots with the activities we do internally, and how these activities are beneficial in helping our customers was a great learning experience.

Secondly, sitting down with the team within the different departments at SEAL, and being able to compare how we work in Sweden, and seeing how we can learn from each other was an eye opening experience as well. ?

Aside from work, the highlights have most definitely been all the amazing trips and hikes I went on. I particularly enjoyed the Nairobi national park, Lake Naivasha and Crescent Island.

?What do you look forward to SEAL achieving in the next few years?

I hope that the uptake of service contracts, implementation of digital tools and improvement with internal processes continues catching on even more. As for digitalization, I hope that more digital tools and systems are implemented to eliminate waste and manual work further to enable the employees to focus more on the strategic and creative aspect of their work.

Additionally, the introduction of Euro 4 and a focus on alternative fuels is something I am looking forward to the company achieving in the near future. For our customers to have a more sustainable mindset, and that we are the ones driving the shift towards a sustainable transport system in the region.

?Where to next?

I will be S?dert?lje taking up a permanent position now within inbound logistics at a department called OIPD (Packaging Network and Supply Chain Development). There I will work with supply chain development related to our packaging, more specifically towards setting up our new supply chain network in China.

Fun fact, one of my goals is to live in all the continents of the world and after my stay in Kenya I only have South America left, and of course Antarctica. So this is something which I will also be pursuing in the near future.

?We have to ask, did you learn any Swahili words?

Of course I learned some basic words and phrases! ‘Asante sana’ (thank you), ‘Karibu’ (welcome), ‘Kwaheri’ (bye), ‘Jambo and Mambo’ (hi) and so on.

I also picked up the phrase ‘uko wapi’ (where are you) because I kept hearing people say this when speaking on the phone. By the way, I also picked up some sheng (informal language or slang) when hanging out with some of the friends I made.?